Inertial acoustic transducers are used in various applications to transfer acoustic energy. Such transducers need to be securely attached to a sounding board to function properly. Historically, transducers have been attached to a sounding board with either a mechanical device (e.g., screws, vacuum cups, etc.) or with some type of bonding method, both of which typically have relatively small contact areas with the sounding board. Such methods are inadequate for long service life in applications in which the sounding board is a brittle material, such as gypsum used in common residential and commercial construction. Specifically, if the force from the transducer is sufficiently high, the localized fracture strength of the material in the area of the attachment can be exceeded, causing the material to fracture, eventually leading to catastrophic material failure.
Bonded and screw attachments also have additional problems, as they are subject to the effects of gravity acting on the transducer, and can therefore bend and twist. Screw attachments cause additional problems by concentrating the stresses on the sounding board. Specifically, as the combination of acoustic and gravitational forces are applied to the relatively small contact area of the attachment on a sounding board such as a gypsum panel, the crystal structure of the gypsum begins to breakdown into a powder, thus reducing acoustic energy transfer over time. Vacuum cups often leak and ultimately lose suction over time.
It is also difficult to install transducers in walls or ceilings during either new construction or refurbishment of an existing structure using these methods. Specifically, mechanical and bonding techniques both require the acoustic transducer to be attached to a gypsum panel prior to its installation on a framing member. This is difficult to achieve in practice, since the transducer can not be positively positioned relative to the surrounding framing.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a significant need in the art for an improved mounting system for inertial acoustic transducers.